The concept of flexographic printing is well known in the art. In general, flexographic printing is a relief printing process used for printing of labels, food wrappers, and the like. In the process, a web of material is passed through various stations that print ink onto the web, generally two to four colors which are dried between the printing stages. After printing, the web is fed between die cutting rollers that cut the label or article from the continuously moving web. The flexographic printing method works well for light paper stock however heavier paper stock in the range of 15 to 20 mil thickness, which is used for items such as dial cards cannot be satisfactorily processed. Typically, dial cards comprise a stiff backing sheet with the product such as a battery or the like held on the dial card by a clear plastic cover that is secured to the dial card.
The present invention comprises a method of using a flexographic press to print and cut heavier web stock for use in such items as dial cards. Typically, dial cards present a difficult challenge since multiple actions need to be accurately performed. That is, the dial card needs to be printed, cut from a stock material and then folded with the edges of the dial card located in register with each other. The use of existing flexographic equipment to print dial cards on heavier web stock has proved ineffective because of the thickness of the web stock needed for the dial cards. Typical problems encountered include creases formed in the article as well as the inability to accurately make the cuts, perforations and fold lines in the dial card. An additional problem is the flexographic press can jam when the heavier weight materials needed for dial cards is fed through the flexographic press; in addition, the cutting and registration using multiple dies usually results in a mismatched dial card when the two halves of the dial card are folded onto each other. The present invention provides an improved process to permit the printing and cutting of heavier stock items such as dial cards on a flexographic press.